Three Days After Koruko Became an Ally
Three days had passed since Koruko joined our group.
I was in the courtyard, swinging a wooden sword while being watched over by Carro, Koruko, and the birds.
My brother and the swordsmanship teacher were both absent today.
Living in the countryside requires physical strength.
At the very least, I need to be able to take down a magical beast with my bare hands.
Thatโs why, even on days without lessons from my brother, I practice swinging the sword every day.
โFuhn-nu! Fuhn-fuhn!โ
โWoof! Woof-woof!โ
As usual, Da-u was swinging a branch clenched in his mouth, mimicking me.
โKyaa!โ โOver here, over here!โ โKya-kya!โ
The spirits were swirling around my wooden sword.
Ever since I first spoke with Kuro and the spirits, they had stopped pretending they couldnโt talk.
Now, they always buzzed around happily, chirping and laughing.
Seeing the joyous spirits made me happy too.
โThatโs dangerous!โ
โWoof-oooh!โ
โEhh?โ โItโs fine, really!โ โKya-kya!โ
I understood that spirits, who lack physical bodies, wouldnโt feel pain even if struck by a wooden sword.
But hitting a spirit with one still tugged at my conscience.
Besides, a spirit had flown off earlier with a loud โFyah!โ after being hit.
Although it came back saying, โAgain! Again!โ it left me feeling uneasy.
โThis isnโt a game!โ
โWaaaooh!โ
โHit us~!โ โLuria-sama, hit us~!โ โKya-kya!โ
โHmmph.โ
Even when I said it wasnโt a game, the spirits didnโt listen.
They deliberately approached the sword, trying to get hit.
It was a challenge to avoid hitting them with the wooden sword.
โKuro, I know youโre there! Tell them to stop!โ
โโฆโฆโฆItโs best not to talk to me or the spirits. You never know who might be watching.โ
โKurooo!โ โLetโs play, letโs play!โ โKya-kya!โ
Kuro popped out from the ground as though sprouting from the earth.
Despite his serious tone, his face and tail betrayed his delight.
โItโs dangerous!โ
โHmmโฆ But itโs really fine.โ
โItโs fine~!โ โHit us, hit us~!โ โKya-kya!โ
The spirits were having a blast.
โWhat if something goes wrong?โ
โHmmโฆ In that case, why not try lightly tapping me with the sword?โ
โAlright.โ
I tapped Kuro with the wooden sword. The swing went right through him without resistance.
โSee? Itโs fine.โ
โI know that. But earlier, it bounced off when it hit.โ
โThatโs becauseโฆ you unconsciously covered the wooden sword with magic power, Luria-sama.โ
โWhat?! I didnโt do that!โ
โYou did it unconsciously, Luria-sama.โ
โT-that makes it even more dangerous!โ
If I struck a spirit with a magic-imbued wooden sword, they might feel pain.
Thatโs what I thought, butโ
โItโs fine. Itโs just like spirit tossing.โ
โItโs the same!โ โDo it, do it!โ โKya-kya!โ
โHuh?โ
โTo hurt a spirit, youโd need cursed energy, not magic power.โ
โCursed energyโฆ?โ
โExplaining that would take a while, so letโs save it for later.โ
โOkay. But are you really sure it doesnโt hurt?โ
โIt doesnโt. If magic power alone could harm us, magical beasts and sorcerers would be able to hurt spirits.โ
โโฆThatโs true.โ
It finally made sense.
Human sorcerers and magical beasts couldnโt harm spirits.
Wait, then how did the One God Church from my past life capture and harm spirits?
Oh, was that cursed energy?
I felt like Iโd uncovered a small part of the secret from my past life.
I decided to ask Kuro about it later.
In any case, discussing matters of my past life here in the courtyard was impossible.
You never know who might be watching.
Well, to be precise, I knew some maids were watching me now.
It made sense since I was a child swinging a wooden swordโit was their job to supervise.
While I pondered, Kuro kept talking.
โSo, please let them play with the magic-covered wooden sword. Itโs educational.โ
โWhat? Really?โ
Surprised, I blurted out loudly.
I understood that hitting the spirits with a magic-imbued sword wouldnโt hurt them.
But I couldnโt believe it was educational.
What if the adorable spirits grew into troublemakers?
โRemember how I said itโs like spirit tossing?โ
โI heard that.โ
โItโs the same. Spirits donโt usually experience physical stimuli. So by playing with a magic-covered wooden swordโโ
Kuroโs explanation was long.
But thanks to it, I finally understood.
Apparently, it improves their understanding of the physical world, boosts intelligence, strengthens magic power, and makes them kinder.
โIs thatโฆ really true?โ
โThe spirits near you have grown up healthy thanks to spirit tossing, Luria-sama.โ
โI know that.โ
I had already heard from Loa that spirit tossing was good for their education.
โAlright, Iโll go for it, then.โ
โWoof!โ
โYay! Wheee!โ
โWhee-whee!โ
โWhee!โ
Whatโs with all the โwheeโs?
Anyway, the spirits were excited, cheering happily.
โHere I go! Fuhn-nu! Fuhn-nu! Fuhn-nu! Chaaaaa!โ
โWoof! Aoooh! Aoooh! Waooooooh!โ
I swung the wooden sword alongside Da-u.
โKya-kya!โ
The spirits, who had been deliberately getting hit earlier, now started dodging joyfully.
โWhy are you dodging?! Fuhn-fuhn-nu!โ
โWoof-woof!โ
โOver here, over here!โ
โLuria-samaaaa!โ
โKya-kya!โ
โItโs like a game of playing monster!โ
โMonster? Playing? Fuhn-nu! Fuhn!โ
โWoof! Woof!โ
โYou know, like when children pretend to be monsters and villagers. The monster chases the villagers, and if the monster touches a villager, they switch roles.โ
โThereโs a game like that? Fuhn-fuhn!โ
โWoof-woof!โ
โHuman children play it all the time.โ
โIs that so?! Fuhn-nu! Fuhn-nu!โ
โWaooo! Waooo!โ
So, the spirits had gone from trying to touch the sword to playing a game of dodging it.
I understood the rules now.
All that was left was to play to my heartโs content.
โTake this! Tyaaaaa!โ
โWoofooooooh!โ
โFast, fast!โ
โWoohoo!โ
โKya-kya!โ
I swung the wooden sword with all my might, trying to catch the spirits.
Maybe because I focused harder than usual, I ended up three times as tired as normalโbut it was a lot of fun.
โโโโ
Ten minutes after Luria began playing the monster game with the wooden sword.
โEh?โ
The swordsmanship instructor looked at Luria in the courtyard.
By chance, the instructor had some personal matters to attend to and had visited the mansion today.
โFunnu! Funnfunnu! Fun!โ
โWoof! Woof woof! Woof!โ
โWhatโs thisโฆ?โ
Upon seeing Luriaโs movements, the swordsmanship instructor couldnโt help but let out a sound.
โIs something the matter?โ
The maid, who was guiding the instructor, asked, and the instructor groaned as he replied.
โThe young lady might be a swordsmanship genius.โ
โIs that so?โ
The maid looked at Luria in the courtyard, but to her, it just seemed like she was playing as usual.
She was still making cute โfunnfunโ sounds, but her movements didnโt look like those of a genius.
โItโs as ifโฆ thereโs something invisible and fast moving that sheโs trying to strike downโฆโ
โI see?โ
โYes, itโs like sheโs trying to cut down an invisible swallow with her swordโฆโ
โI see.โ
Unlike the maid, who was inexperienced with swords, she couldnโt understand.
She thought sheโd tell the lady of the house later that the instructor had praised young Luriaโs swordsmanship.
โShe has much more talent than I do.โ
โYouโre just joking again.โ
The maid, though inexperienced with swords, knew that the instructor was the countryโs best swordsman, referred to as a genius.
Thatโs why he had been chosen as the swordsmanship teacher for the second princeโs heir, Gilberto.
โItโs not a joke. She really is a genius.โ
โThank you. Iโm sure both the master and lady of the house will be pleased to hear that.โ
It was probably just flattery.
Thinking this, the maid thanked the instructor.
โโโโ